She was banned for a time from the Pine Ridge Reservation and has been slammed by tribal officials for, among other things, legislation they say attacks the rights of protesters against large pipeline projects.
Finding common ground in working with nine separate tribes with a unique sovereignty and a long history of conflict with the state has never been easy for a South Dakota governor.
But Gov. Kristi Noem has found favor on the Rosebud Reservation through a cooperative approach in assisting the tribe as it offers treatment to members suffering from methamphetamine addiction. At the same time, the partnership adds to the statewide treatment base for meth.
And some Rosebud Tribe officials hope the state-tribal partnership on this issue could be a model for future partnerships between the state and tribes in other areas.
“I think this is kind of an area where we can explore other arrangements,” says Lloyd Guy, attorney general for the Rosebud Tribe. “This is kind of a good-faith thing the state and the tribe are working on that’s a benefit to all the people, because this problem is huge.”
Few would deny the size and scope and devastating impacts of the meth problem. During her campaign and early in her first term, Noem promised to prioritize combating meth use and distribution and treating meth addicts. She committed money to meth education and awareness. And she added state troopers and drug-crime investigators to help with enforcement.
Noem also authorized a campaign last fall to increase awareness of meth and its threats. The campaign featured a controversial advertisement by a Minneapolis agency built around a “Meth. We’re On it” message that some found confusing, contradictory and even humorous.
As the ad got questioned in news stories and lampooned on social media, Noem defended it as an effective way to get attention for the dangers of meth and state efforts to fight its distribution and use.
But before that fuss, the state and the Rosebud Tribe had quietly shaped the meth-treatment partnership that Noem announced in August. She said then that the state Department of Social Services would contract with the Rosebud Tribe to operate an intensive meth-treatment program on the reservation.
It would become the sixth intensive meth-treatment program operating in the state and the first on a reservation, Noem said in her announcement.
“Meth is a serious issue in South Dakota that not only devastates individuals, but tears apart families,” she said. “As we work to expand addiction prevention across the state, I’m thrilled to partner with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in prioritizing treatment services. This partnership will have a tremendous impact on increasing access to services for people struggling with addiction and helping them along the road to recovery.”
Lloyd Guy said he considers the agreement with the state to provide reimbursement funding for meth-treatment services through the Rosebud program to be “a huge breakthrough” in state-tribal cooperation.
“And it certainly could open the way to other arrangements and agreements,” he said.
Rosebud Tribal President Rodney Bordeaux credits Noem with focusing on meth, visiting the meth treatment facility in person and making a commitment to help in the battle against the wide-spread, dangerous drug on the reservation, and beyond.
“As far as government-to-government relations, it’s a good-faith effort on both sides— talking things out, finding things we can agree on and moving forward on this thing,” Bordeaux said. “I think there’s an opportunity there with Gov. Noem, so we’ll take her up on it. We’re all in the same state.“
The terms of the contract authorized the state to reimburse the tribal meth program for treatment services based on the number of clients served. The contract began in late August for $667,725, which was a pro-rated amount since it started almost two months into the new fiscal year. The full-year total could grow in coming years.
Ed Parsells, a long-time substance-abuse counselor and administrator who oversees the Rosebud treatment program, called the partnership with the state “a major breakthrough.” And he said the fully accredited substance-abuse treatment center already in operation near the Indian Health Service Hospital in Rosebud was the perfect place for the partnership to be implemented.
The program includes long-term, science-based treatment techniques as well as a spiritual component that Parsells says is essential to effective meth treatment and long-term recovery.
“We integrate culture, the Lakota culture, into what we do, and also spirituality,” he said. “We have a very substantial program to integrate spirituality into the treatment plan.”
That spirituality might involve Lakota healers and traditional Native American rituals and beliefs, or the God-based, 12-step program created by the founders of Alcoholic Anonymous and used in treatment of many types of addictions.
Parsells says Noem complimented the programs for making spirituality a crucial component.
“She said she believes that is why we’re having the success we are,” he says.
It’s hard-earned success, requiring a commitment over the long term by those seeking treatment and by those offering it.
“It’s a long-term venture, so our program is a minimum of four months and we can keep them up to a year,” Parsells says. “When they complete the residential piece, the local ones anyway, we can keep them tied to our program, with individual counseling once a week, plus a pretty rigid aftercare program.
The intensive meth program is designed for those with a severe meth disorder, says Tiffany Wolfgang, director of the Behavioral Health Division of the state Department of Social Services.
“Either they have engaged in treatment before and were not successful or they have regressed and need a long-term model to help them recover from the disorder,” she says. “At a high level, these programs are built around a minimum of six months, but typically 12 to 15 months, not necessarily in residential treatment.”
Without continuing care and supervision after residential treatment, many times those trying to kick the meth habit will resume its use, she said. That’s why programs like the one at Rosebud are so important.
“The hope if they start in a residential program is to help them transition back into their communities, and they may stay in treatment long term because of the disorder,” Wolfgang says.
DSS Secretary Laurie Gill says the meth effort at the state level is distinct from but connected to the fight against opioid. There’s a big federal push to fight opioids, which sends more dollars out to the anti-drug fight. But the battles against opioids and meth can work together in some ways, she said.
“We’re trying to braid together the funding we need to fight the meth epidemic as well,” Gill says.
That braiding together of funding includes money from the state general fund, federal block grants and Medicaid, all aimed at providing addicts with access to treatment services. And Gill said the outreach on meth treatment doesn’t stop at the addicts. It’s important to help and support the families, too.
“We try to be comprehensive. We know that sometimes these things hit families and hit them hard,” she said. “Our goal is to get everybody together, keeping the family unit strong as we go forward.”
That’s the goal on the Rosebud Reservation, too, where the partnership with the state means plenty in intergovernmental relations, with practical, life-saving potential.
“We were able to get together and get this done,” Guy says. “So, it means a great deal for us. But it also gives us the mechanism where we can help more people.”
And save more lives.
